Before the Dawn Page 3

"Hey, Dad!" Aline called out in her loudest, most annoying voice. "Stop working so hard for my trust fund for a few minutes and come in here and eat!"

  "Fine! Fine!" he shouted back. "You’ll regret the time you spent feeding me when you have to settle for student housing instead of your own apartment!" He showed up in the kitchen with a grin. She blew him a kiss and they both sat down to a lovely dinner of their usual Friday night pizza. It wasn’t a very healthy way to live, eating takeout all the time, they both knew that, but since neither of them could cook something more complicated than scrambled eggs, they really didn’t have much of a choice. So if all the restaurants in town suddenly closed up shop, they knew they’d starve in a day.

  A normal home life–the kind that had a Papa Bear, a Mama Bear, and a Baby Bear, as Aline always thought of it in her head–stopped being an option for the two of them five years ago when Aline’s mother had died in a crash. A really bad time had followed after that, with her going through therapy and her dad trying to keep things together so she wouldn’t realize just how crappy everything had really become. But, somehow, they had made it through and, though they would always be incomplete in that secret place they both hid from each other, they knew that nothing worse could possibly happen to their little family anymore. What else could fate dish out when they had already gone through their own version of hell?

  So, yes, Aline didn’t exactly have the kind of family that other kids had, and she didn’t have a mom she could run to whenever she experienced the usual dramas of growing up. But she had her dad. And one thing about being raised by a guy with no real clue on how to handle a little girl as she turns into a young woman is that you learn not to stress the little stuff. Like healthy home-cooked meals, for example.

  "So," her dad said as he chewed on the big mouthful of pizza he had bitten off, "how was school today?"

  She rolled her eyes at his appalling lack of manners. "It was okay," she replied through her own mouthful of cheesy pizza goodness then grinned at him. This was an old joke between them that never seemed to get old. "Today, I invited this boy I like to my party after the school dance."

  He pretended to choke. "Gah! I don’t think I wanna hear this!"

  Aline put on a dreamy expression on her face. "He’s amazing. He’s tall with longish dark brown hair, amazing green eyes, luscious lips, a kissable neck, and I think he's got a nice pac–"

  "Finish that sentence and I will ground you for life," he threatened.

  She chuckled in the most evil way she could manage and stuck her tongue out at her father. He just laughed and went on eating. After a few minutes of silent chewing, he then asked, "So, what’s the name of this new Prince Charming that has taken the place of that last amazing guy you liked?"

  "Trevor," she told him with a little sigh. "He’s a transferee from somewhere down south. I’m not exactly sure if he is actually Prince Charming, though. That’s why I wanna hang out with him, find out if he’s royalty or a frog in disguise. That’s okay, right, Your Majesty?"

  "Yeah, sure," he nodded. "As long as you don’t spend all night dancing with him till your shoes get worn. Or the pregnancy test comes back positive."

  "Dad!" She was truly scandalized. And thoroughly embarrassed. She and her dad were close, but they weren’t so close to the point that she confided in him about any baseball stats she had achieved. He knew she had snuck past second base because he caught her one time with a boyfriend making out in their living room, but she could still wrangle unicorns if any ever decided to show up in town. Aline glared at him. "You know, you shouldn’t be so liberal about these things with your only child. You’re supposed to put the fear of God in me when it comes to teen pregnancy and sex. This open and understanding attitude you have about the whole thing is not helping me to develop a guilt complex about exploring my sexuality."

  He gave her his most benevolent and innocent look. "But that’s exactly why I’m using this tactic on you," he said smoothly. "In due time, you’ll become so sick of my trust and support for healthy expressions of sexuality that you’re just going to give up on the whole thing and become a nun. Then I will finally and truly be a happy father."

  "You know, you’re not as cool as you think." She tried to look sullen, but his expression of saintly wisdom and love was too ridiculous that she couldn’t help but smile. Mercifully, he changed the topic then and started talking about her birthday. Her dad had been the one to reserve the Ballroom for the party. It was generally acknowledged to be the coolest spot in town, though Aline preferred to hang out in Tres, the coffee shop slash club where local bands often played. However, Tres didn’t really have the right atmosphere for a birthday celebration, so she had agreed to settle for the Ballroom, with its pretentious name and aspirations of gothic architecture.

  "I want you to have a great birthday, honey, but please," her father said, "please don’t go crazy on the drinks. I told the management to watch out for any alcohol-influenced shenanigans your friends might pull. I don’t want anyone getting into an accident during or after the party."

  "Dad, please," Aline said, imitating his tone. "We’re not stupid. We’ll be responsible, I promise you. Why don’t you go to the party, too, so you can be chaperone since you’re so worried?"

  "And look after a bunch of drunken teenagers?" He grimaced. "No, thank you." He gave her a hard, probing stare. "I trust that you’re going to be careful. So, be careful, all right?"

  She gave him a playful salute. "Si, capitan."

  "I’m a bit surprised though," he then said without quite meeting her eyes, "that you only wanted this party. Don’t sixteen year old girls normally ask for cars for their birthday?"

  Aline made sure she kept the smile on her face. "Oh, you know I hate driving," she reminded him softly. "And I don’t really want a car."

  There were a few minutes of awkward silence between them filled with the weight of their family’s tragedy, then her dad coughed and asked her something else about school and the awkwardness passed. They enjoyed the rest of their dinner, joking with each other the whole time. Once the entire pizza was gone, Aline started to clean up but her father offered to do it instead, so she thanked him then went to her room.

  She had left her cellphone on her bed and she now saw that she had missed two calls from an unfamiliar number. Wondering who had called, she hit redial and hummed a melody that had crept into her head earlier while she waited for someone to pick up on the other end. After a few rings, she got an answer.

  "Aline?" a familiar voice asked.

  She was surprised, then thrilled, then incredibly nervous. "Uh, Trevor? Hi!" She felt her heart pound faster all of a sudden.

  "Yeah," he said, sounding pleased that she had recognized his voice. "I got your number from one of the guys in our homeroom. Sorry I didn’t ask you for it earlier."

  "Oh, that’s fine," she quickly assured him. "So, uhm, hi. Again. What’s up?"

  "Well, I realized something after we spoke, but I had already left the cafeteria and I didn’t want to look like a dork in front of your friends by coming back," his tone sounded embarrassed. "The thing is, I don’t know where you’re gonna be having your birthday party after the dance," he admitted.

  "Oh. Oh!" She blushed for some reason, though she was only talking to him on the phone, so she was very grateful that he couldn’t see how red her face was right now. How did he get her to act so weird about him? "I’m sorry. I can’t believe I forgot to tell you, too. Well, uhm, after the dance, my friends and I, along with some other kids from school, are gonna be going to the Ballroom. That’s where my party’s gonna be." Mentally, she cursed herself for sounding so nervous.

  "I see." His tone suddenly became odd. "That’s, well, kinda funny."

  She frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, yeah, remember I told you I had to work a late shift at my job? Uhm, actually, I work in the Ballroom." She may have imagined it, at least she hoped so, but he seemed sort of defensive when he said the last part.

&n
bsp; "Then you’d really have to be there, huh?" she said, and suddenly giggled. Then she grimaced to herself. Why was she being such a dork?

  He didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, "Yeah," he agreed, "I’ll definitely be there. Working." It sounded like he was suddenly very far away.

  Aline didn’t know what to say anymore. So she just sat there with the phone against her ear praying that, somehow, she could figure out what she may have done to turn him off so fast, because he certainly sounded like he couldn't wait to hang up. If this was how spectacularly she messed up over the phone, then heaven only knew the nuclear devastation she could cause in any future real life interactions between the two of them.

  "So," he finally broke the loaded silence that had been stretching on for forever between them, "I guess I’ll see you then."

  "Yeah. Yes. I guess. Uh, Trevor?" She hesitated for a second, then plunged right ahead. "I’d really like it if you’d be there for my birthday. ‘Cause I know we’re practically still strangers, but–I really like you." There. She had said it. She held her breath for his reply.

  "I really like you, too, Aline." He spoke so softly she thought for a second that she had only imagined him saying that. "You make me wish..." his voice trailed off.

  "What?" she prompted when she couldn’t stand the silence between them any longer.

  He sighed. "Things. Certain things. Stupid things." He didn’t explain what he meant by that and she was left confused. "I’ll see you around, I guess. Goodnight," he whispered and hung up.

  She stared at her phone for countless minutes, fighting the urge to scream in frustration. What had gone wrong? What had she said that suddenly seemed to turn him cold? She laid down on the bed and hugged one of her pillows close, feeling miserable as she looked out at the night pressing upon her bedroom window. For the first time ever, she really liked a guy in a way she had never felt before. And, also for the first time, it was proving really difficult to make that connection that used to be so effortless with other guys. Being around Trevor made her feel all tingly and awkward, and she was never quite sure what to do or say.

  She didn’t know how long she must have obsessed about the situation, thinking about the phone call, going over every moment she could remember, and reflecting on every word spoken again and again in her head but, eventually, her lids started getting heavy and she felt sleep slowly creep throughout her body. Just before she closed her eyes and started to dream, she thought she saw a raven alight outside her window.

  ~~~

  Chapter 4